Help:Diff: Difference between revisions

== SimplifyingWeave diffs ==

When moving or copying a piece of text within a page or from another page, and also making other edits in the same revision, the diff display can becomestill mismatchedcompare tomoved otherparagraphs, lineseven andif confusingweave-moved over 20 paragraphs away. InsteadPrior to August 2018, a diff cancould be kept clearer (simpler), by first using a separate edit to insert blank lines plus move, or split,the text paragraphs, then after saving, in further revisions, add or change text within the moved/split paragraphs. IfOnly if paragraphs are both split and reworded in the same revision, then the specific new words cannot be individually highlighted as different from the prior revision. A split paragraph will typically highlight the 2nd part(s) as if new text on the page. The weave-diff can compare paragraphs word-for-word if moved, but not if split.

A diff shows differences per line, so it synchronizes between revisions by matching the [[newline]]s and unchanged lines. Some editors find that having additional line breaks to break up the text improves the diff function. Otherwise, those large, massive globs of text can be difficult to compare after a split. Keep sentences limited in length, such as with four prepositions, and seek shorter paragraphs. Long [[wp:reftag]] footnotes ({{tag|ref}}) may be split with internal newlines as well.